Feedback Brussels, Paris, Kiev – 17 May 2017
On the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia 17 May 2017, ADC Memorial, FIDH and the Center for Civil Liberties launch a campaign in solidarity with LGBT people in Chechnya and Donbas.
The problem of violence and discrimination on the ground of sexual orientation and/or gender identity in Chechnya has been widely discussed; testimonies were published about threats, blackmail, extrajudicial detention in secret prisons where dozens of people are tortured.
The situation of LGBT in Donbas is less known, but human rights research by ADC Memorial and the Center for Civil Liberties revealed a lot of similarities, and the puppet states of so called Luhansk and Donetsk Peoples Republics, in the same way the Chechen authorities do, deny not only the repression but the very existence of LGBT people in those regions.
The campaign is already supported by the worldwide renowned writer Jonathan Littell and famous actress and singer Jane Birkin; messages of solidarity were sent by a number of Members of the European Parliament, including Vice-Presidents of the EP Silvie Guillaume and Ulrike Lunacek, Pier-Antonio PANZERI (Chair of the Subcommittee on Human Rights), Ian DUNCAN (Vice President of the Intergroup on LGBTI rights of the EP), Heidi HAUTALA (Vice-Chair of the Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance political group), and others.
Anti-Discrimination Center Memorial, the Center for Civil Liberties and FIDH call upon anyone who values human rights and who refuses to tolerate discriminatory violence to join the campaign #StopLGBTpersecution by sending photos, videos, and pictures with the camapign logo in defense of the rights of people who are suffering right now.
Contact us and send your photo, video and solidarity messages: stoplgbtpersecution@adcmemorial.org
Press contacts:
ADC Memorial : Coline Maestracci, coline@adcmemorial.org, +32 470 922 926 – French, English, Russian
CCL : Oleksandra Matveichuk + 380 674 49 48 39, Ukranien, English, Russia
FIDH : Audrey Couprie, acouprie@fidh.org, +33 6 48 05 91 57 French, English, Spanish